Andrei ROGOZINE (CAN) is #3 on the replacement list, so if he and USFS are willing, he could replace Joubert. He does have SC next week.

French Masters was last week. If Gailhaguet wanted to sanction Joubert, he could have done so in time enough for USFS to have more than enough time for a replacement. Is he not giving the finger also to Russia (Joubert's second event is CoR), or did he not save his bile only for the US?

Andrei ROGOZINE (CAN) is #3 on the replacement list, so if he and USFS are willing, he could replace Joubert. He does have SC next week.

French Masters was last week. If Gailhaguet wanted to sanction Joubert, he could have done so in time enough for USFS to have more than enough time for a replacement. Is he not giving the finger also to Russia (Joubert's second event is CoR), or did he not save his bile only for the US?

Who knows? I suppose we won't know until a few days before that either... ? It would be nice if he had bothered to inform the athlete he was sanctioning? "You were prepared to go - waiting for your tickets, were you? Ha! - Surprise! - You're not going at all! So there!" Such responsible, mature behaviour... If he's willing to treat one of his most decorated skaters that way, what does he care about foreign federations or replacements or other skaters?

Who knows? I suppose we won't know until a few days before that either... ? It would be nice if he had bothered to inform the athlete he was sanctioning? "You were prepared to go - waiting for your tickets, were you? Ha! - Surprise! - You're not going at all! So there!" Such responsible, mature behaviour... If he's willing to treat one of his most decorated skaters that way, what does he care about foreign federations or replacements or other skaters?

Um, Joubert didn't enter French Masters. His reasoning was that he wasn't prepared.

If he wasn't prepared for a tiny little domestic comp, how the hell did he expect to be ready for a Senior GP?

IMO, I'm with the French fed on this one. And surely Joubert's fans didn't want to see him underdone?

Um, Joubert didn't enter French Masters. His reasoning was that he wasn't prepared.

If he wasn't prepared for a tiny little domestic comp, how the hell did he expect to be ready for a Senior GP?

IMO, I'm with the French fed on this one. And surely Joubert's fans didn't want to see him underdone?

What I said was that the person sanctioned ought to have been informed. As of Saturday, Brian was not. I presume that Gaillaghuet did not just wake up on Monday and decide to have him sanctioned. Presumably this had been in the works for some time. Or should have been. But your mileage may vary. Whatever.

I don't agree with the sanction (it's not like Masters was mandatory and clearly Joubert didn't know it was) but if it had to happen, I agree with LRK that Brian should have been informed sooner. In fact, everyone should have been informed sooner...another skater could have taken his place, since it doesn't seem likely that they will send some someone else so close to the competition. It's just a wasted spot. (The French federation doesn't necessarily do things that make a lot of sense though - they had three men's spots at the last Worlds and only sent two, so that spot was also wasted.)

For what it's worth, Joubert was just allowed to start training in the new rink in Poitiers from mid-September, and construction hasn't even completely finished yet. Before that, he and his coach had been commuting an hour away, and it's very likely that he just wanted some more time in a stable training situation before competing.